Peanut plant harvester



Dec. 4, 1945. w. T. BRowN ET AL PEANUT PLANT HARVESTER Filed 1:96.51, 194s. s sheets-sheet 1.

' w. T. BROWN ETAL PEANUT PLANT HARVESTER v Dec. 14, 1945.-

' Filed-Demi, 1945 s sheets-sheet 2 man.

Dec. 4V,I 194.5. T; BROWN l:a1-AL 2,390,419

PEANUT PLANT HARVESTER Filed Dec. 1, 1943 3 sneetsfsneet s Mmm mw m m C M M M. l

"fieri Patented Dec. 4, 19:45l

fren-in Stmas This inventidnrelates"nerauyiidagricultural "Irchin'ry andA pertainsfaticulaly Ato improvetslin machines 'frha'rves'ting dr "gathering utivin'svafter the'plarit has been removed, by t'suit lxifianafronithegrond.

y apineipeiebjeet ef ihefnresenijinvenpien is l-to"blivide "fa Wheel A'su'piorted. nachine "structure, ldesignedte 'beuirawn .by eny'euitebiedrefi means, IlAe *fiiekingup frein 'the surface ef ihegreund "fpanitviriesiand conveying' the same to 'a'collec- "t'inblatforin 'foin 'which they may he'discharged at intervals in piles for stacking in the customary "aiir about `asil-15porting pole fordrying.

q ttheieSt'tme thepracticeis tornploy Hand labor tfga-ther up "p`eanut vinesjirom the ini'd Arid. TAblace ,'thin in the desired A"stacks ``i1z`i p es, affter'the plantlias beenrernoved vfrein" the greundby @suitable plow. Due tetue "siitshi'tag'eof labbr'the harvesting ofthe cropsf of this plant is materially hampered and rsinee'ithefiinnilnrevides valuable eil and feed ina,- i h forfaniinal and'hunian consumption it fisparticulariyfiinpcrtantiat this time thatmeans tbe `nrc'ivi'd'clV whereby Y the harvestingj of peanut fije iacconplishe'd' despite 'the critical sh alge bflar. y y y y nother bjtof the invention is torcvde` in 'hirie 1(if "the 4'character Stated a` balanced fcn' rilctin "whereby the machine ""n'iay' be 4rsnpl ite'dlpona Asingle vIiair ofiwwheelsso that a single t'tridtbh easily'i'a's Or IWI" the frontend to facilitate attaching the''nachine 4toa draft fvfeliicle `or animal and also whereby the turning -"ofthe`1`na`chi`ne"can be accomplished With'ease.

Stillanother'ohjectof the' invention is to bro- -vitfe in "a Ylfiarvesting inac'hine "of the` character "stated, `a` `novel"means associated with a conveyor therhy the p1ants`will be easily and quickly freed f'n thec'dnveyor teeth, for discharge onto a rear 'Iltfri on "which'the plants arefallowe'd to ac- Iclin'vlliaite"'unt'il a desired quantity has been ob- Yiai-ned. v l

`Still another object "ofthe invention i'sto pro- "viiein4 anachirie -'fthe characteri stated, "a `co1- -1tion blatf'm in the for'in f `a Conveyor which 'iSiHntrmitttly obratdNS-tliat a Stack ofiilant's I cllcted'upon the'fplatfo'rin can be 'discharged in fa ile'on'tlie *ground-after the Stack hasreached e'desiiedfsize, A y iriie invention 'will `be best "understood from a sie'ation of the following detailed descriptie-n witnihe eecempenying ydrawings refining lbf thefbiilication, "it being Vunderstood, hiiivr, r'that the invntin may be "changed or modified if desired, so lngs'uchc'hangscr modif'iietiinsfiie net denari materia-115, frein the'f'unda- :nentalffatures Qfthe nventin as eipressed in irieebbpfieileims- In the drawings:

5 A Figure '1' isaviewin ideeieviinn di theme- L20 "astiiere is niev'ide dj a'ifraine 'structure 'which' is "n'eraHYe gnated "F angl iivh'ich 'comprises the V30 ili1s, isfa picker roller Shaftl3llpon which iS mounted, betvvrfthe'ioined side meibers ofthe frame, the picker 'rol f4 which has "its periph- "eral surfaceidstlicd"vvitha' 'plurality of" relatively iln'g pirisr picker fingers I5. vIh'ese ngrs eX- 35 -terid radiallyifrin'theirollrarid are 'designed to ""SWepiacross'thesurface of the groundv as the folleris turned, 'toick up peanut vines theref-iren'as neieinafieifstated.

A Atlneend the shaft "I 3 "car'rss asprocktgear "45 'mae-ninennwinen'thesprdekiifgear is is ieeeied,

tii/arftrid.` fai-"attachment to "a draft vehicle or Supported by Ithe frame structure between the side rails I2 is the elevator which is generally designated 20. This comprises a lower chain shaft 2I which is rotatably supported between the side beamsY I rearw-ardly of the picker roller, and an upper chain shaft 22 which is suppo-rted adjacent the upper ends of and by the side rails I2, in the longitudinally adjustable bearing bars 23. As shown in Figure 1 these bearing bars 23 are secured to the outer sides of Ithe side rails I2 for adjustment longitudinally thereon so that the upper Ichain shaft 22 can be moved relative to the lower chain shaft for the purpose of properly tensioning the endless conveyor supported therebetween.

CII

The upper and lower shafts 2I and 22 each A supports a pair of sprocket wheels 24 and these wheels having passing therearound the endless chains 25 forming a part of the conveyor making up the elevator structure and these chains are connected by the transverse bars 26, each of which carries a plurality ofspikes or fingersV 21.

Supported beneath the upper run of the endless conveyor, by the adjacent standards and side rails of the frame, is the elevator floor 28 which supports the top run of the conveyor and prevents sagging of the same and extending lengthwise of each side of this floor is a side wall 29 which retains the vines or other materials, upon the elevator.

The numeral 30 generally designates the ele-l vator floor guard which facilitates the proper picking up of the vines from the pickup drum, by the fingers of the elevator conveyor and the removal of the vines at the upper or discharge end of the elevator. This guard comprises a plurality of bars or rods 3I which may be in the form of flat strips of material laid in spaced side by side relation or round bars as desired and such bars or flat strips are turned or reverted at their lower and upper ends as indicated at 32 and 33 respectively and are joined together at such ends by the plates 34.

As Vshown the guard extends lengthwise over the elevator floor and the curved upper end Vthereof which is eccentric to the upper shaft 22 is secured to a suitable transverse support 35,

`forming a part of the frame while the lower plate 34 is secured to a corresponding support 3S so that the curved lower end of the guard partly encircles the lower shaft 2| and the sprocket wheels carried thereon.

By arranging the curved ends of the guard eccentric to the adjacent shafts with the top part, made up of the straight portions of the rods, lying relatively close to the elevator floor so as to permit the chains and cross bars to pass between the guard and the floor,f it will be seen that as the endless conveyor moves around the front sprocket wheels 24 and upwardly over thev floor, the fingers 21 will move in between the bars of the guard and upwardly along the floor between such bars. Upon reaching the upper end of the elevator the fingers will swing down and be retracted from between the curved upp per ends of the guard bars and consequently they will be withdrawn from the vines which they had engaged and moved upwardly, so that such vines will be discharged over the rounded upper end of the guard onto a suitable underlying receiver.

In order that the vines may be properly piled and deposited at desired intervals upon the ground there is provided at the rear end of the machine a hopper generally designated 31. This hopper comprises rearward extensions of the side beams I0 between which is supported a movable floor in the form of an endless conveyor belt or f veyor carries a gear 46 and adjacent to this gear f .there is mounted an idler gear shaft 41 upon which is mounted an idler gear 48 and a sprocket gear 49. The sprocket gear is connected with the overlying sprocket gear 45 by the sprocket chain 50,

The gears 46 and 48 are in relatively close relation but are unconnected.

Driving connection is established between the gears 46 and 48 to effect the operation of the platform conveyor from the elevator shaft 22, by the provision of an oscillating lever 5I which is pivotally mounted as at 52 upon a suitable adjacent part of the frame. Upon the lower end of this lever is carried a gear 53 and .the lever is so arranged that when it is oscillated in one direction the gear 53 will be brought into coupling relation between the gears 46 and 48 so as to transmit the desired motion from Ythe driven idler gear to the gear 46 which is connected with the forward shaft of the platform conveyor.

The upper end of the gear shifting lever 5I has connected therewith a cable 54 which is extended to the draft machine, not shown, so that the operator of the draft machine and of harvesting machine can operate the platform conveyor as desired to dump or discharge therefrom the peanut vines, after a suitable stack has been formed thereon,

Any suitable means may be employed for coupling the present machine with a draft animal or vehicle. For the lconnection of the machine with a draft vehicle such as a tractor or the like there may be provided the draft hitch illustrated which comprises a fork 55 having its two ends connected between the forward ends of the side beams and joined at its forward end to the short coupling bar 56, the forward end of which is suitably apertured to receive the connecting pin of the standard coupling, not shown, forming a part of any standard tractor.

While the picker fingers carried by the picker roller at the forward end of the machine, may be made in the form of rigid pins, they may also be, and preferably are, formed of relatively light weight spring met-al having therein a spring loop I5 so that .as the picker `roller revolves and the points of the ngers are brought into close proximity to or into direct connection with the ground they will not be permanently bent but will merely yield to the proper extent to permit the roller to turn and pick upthe vine.

While any suitable means may be employedfor rotating the picker roller it is preferred that such rotation be accomplished through the rnedium of a driving sprocket chain 58 connected betweenl the sprocket gear I9 which is carried upon the machine axle, and the sprocket gear I6 mounted upon the shaft I3 which carries the picker roller. As shown this chain is also employed for driving the elevator conveyorr by passing the bottom run ofthe chain 58 over the sprocket gear 59 carried upon the forward shaft 2| of the elevator, as shown.

The upper run of the driving chain 58 is car ried over a suitable support 50 mounted upon the side of the frame above the sprocket gear 59.

From the foregoing it will |be apparent that in the operation of the present harvesting machine the picker roller I4 is rotated by the driving chain 58 in the same direction as the wheels I8 so that the picker fingers are carried forwardly and downwardly under the roller to sweep the vines rearwardly and upwardly onto the forward end of the elevator. Here they will be immediately picked up by the fingers 21 and carried upwardly to the discharge end of the elevator where the ngers will be caused to withdraw from the vines by the guides between which the fingers move, causing the vines to slide off the rearwardly downwardly curving ends 33 of the guard bars and onto the platform conveyor. The conveyor will `at such time be stationary but after a lsufiicient quantity of vines has collected upon the conveyor the operator may cause the vines to be dumped by oscillating the lever 5l to establish the desired driving connection between the gears 46 and 48 so as to run the conveyor back and dump the vines in a pile on the ground.

We claim:

l. In a harvesting machine of the character described, the combination comprising a wheel supported frame, an elevator supported on the frame and extending at an inclination upwardly and rearwardly, said elevator including an end- .less conveyor, means for transmitting driving power to the conveyor, a, horizontally disposed platform conveyor supported by the frame rearwardly of the upper end of the rst conveyor and at an elevation beneath the same to receive material therefrom, said platform conveyor including a shaft and a gear on the shaft, an idler gear supported for rotation adjacent to the rst mentioned gear, means for transmitting driving power from the first conveyor to the idler gear, and means operalble from a point remote from said gears for establishing an operative coupling between the gears.

2. A machine of the character stated in claim 1, in which the last stated means comprises a pivotally supported lever and a gear supported for free rotation on the lever and adapted to be moved upon oscillation of the lever in one direction, into toothed connection with the rst mentioned gears.

3. The combination in a machine of the-character stated, of a Wheel supported frame, an elevator carried by the frame and extending at an upward and rearward inclination thereon, the elevator including an endless conveyor and a rotatable shaft, means for transmitting power to said conveyor, a horizontally disposed platform conveyor supported upon the frame at an elevation below the upper end of the first conveyor and rearwardly thereof, said platform conveyor including a shaft and a gear on the shaft, a second gear supported for free rotation adjacent to the first gear and free of connection with the first gear, means for transmitting rotary motion from said shaft to said second gear, a lever supfl fl ported at a point above said gears for oscillation on an axis paralleling the rotary axes of the gears, means connected with the lever for eiecting its oscillation from a remote point,` and a gear supported upon the lower end of the lever for free rotation and at an elevation above the first gears, to be swung into operative connection with the first and second gears upon oscillation of the lever in one direction to form an operative coupling between the first two gears. n

WALTER T. BROWN. WILLIAM LEE BROWN. LEONARD C. BROWN. 

